Dive Review of
Dive Safari in
St. Maarten

Hawaii, Tahiti, N & S California, Norway, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahamas,
Grand Cayman, Australia Barrier Reef, Honduras, Belize, St Thomas

Dive Conditions

Dive guided by Divemaster with 12 divers in group from cruise ship,
Carnival Legend  

Boat had separate rinse tank for cameras, but this was also the only place
to store them on boat to and from the nearby (10 min) site.  

Overall Rating

This was by far the best of two experiences we have had diving with a group
organized by a cruise ship.  The previous experience at St Thomas from the
Carnival Triumph was an overpriced ($70) one tank shore dive from a popular
tourist beach.  This, however, was a moderately challenging, two tank boat
dive with a very professional dive operation on a new, well laid out boat. 
The cost was $90 for two dives, including all equipment, which was below
the cost to walk up to the shop and do the same dives and rent all of the
equipment.

The group was met at the cruise ship gangplank by the dive staff, who
warned us that 6 foot swells were running at the sites.  My wife and I
immediately downed bonine.  The dive staff noted who needed what equipment,
and we were then shuttled over to the dive shop to pick up BC's (everything
else was on the boat, including weight belts set up with the weights we had
specified) and board the boats for the 10 minute ride to the sites.

We first dove Proselyte, the wreck of an 18th century sailing vessel. 
There are numerous cannon, anchors and bits of the ship scattered about the
shallow reef.  The swells were daunting, and there were several cases of
mal de mer.  The entry was a giant stride off the stern, each group of 6
divers met their dive master / guide on the tag line and decended for the
45 minute / 60 foot dive.  Aside from the shipwreck, the area is carpetted
by mulit colored soft corals and sponges.  There was surge all the way to
the bottom.  The exit was to surface after a safety stop, pull into the
boat on the tag line, remove fins and hand them to the dive master in the
water, and climb out.  This was easier than I had expected, and the dive
staff in the water and on the boat were very attentive to assit the
divers.

The second dive was at The Maze.  There were the same soft corals and
sponges and the most amazingn assemblage of lobsters on a small vertical
rock face that I have encountered, with 3 to five in each of the dozen or
so holes in the wall.

The Dive Safari staff said that these conditions of large swells,
underwater surge, and somewhat limited visibility were typical of St
Maarten (we were diving on the Dutch side on the south), although in the
afternoon as the cruise ship left and passed by the sites, the sea had
turned to glass.  There is more sheltered diving, and a one tank beginner
dive was also offered in one of these bays. 

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